New Mexico sues EPA, mine owners over massive gold mine waste spill

By Dan Whitcomb
May 23 (Reuters) - New Mexico sued the U.S. Environmental
Protection agency, an agency contractor and two mining companies
on Monday over the 2015 breach of an abandoned Colorado gold
mine that spilled some 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater
into three states.
The Gold King Mine spill, which was accidentally triggered
by EPA inspection team called to the mine to inspect an existing
seepage, unleashed a torrent of yellow sludge which contained
high concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and
lead.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a
statement issued with the 51-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District
Court that the discharge left behind widespread environmental
damage and caused substantial economic harm to residents,
farmers and local businesses for which the state has not been
compensated.
"The release of hazardous substances into waters that are
the lifeblood of our economy and culture in New Mexico has had a
devastating impact on our historical rural, agricultural and
tribal communities," New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas
said in a statement announcing the court action.
The lawsuit, which names the EPA, its contractor
Environmental Restoration and the Kinross Gold Corp K.TO and
Sunnyside Gold Corporation, seeks reimbursement for cleanup
costs as well as damages and a court order requiring that the
defendants take steps to prevent future such spills.
Representatives for the EPA, Missouri-based Environmental
Restoration and the two mining companies, could not be reached
for comment on Monday.
Colorado and New Mexico both declared state of emergencies
over the spill from the century-old Gold King Mine near the town
of Silverton, which fouled the San Juan River and its northern
tributary, the Animas River.
Residents living downstream from the mine were advised to
avoid drinking or bathing in water drawn from wells in the
vicinity and two Colorado municipalities, including the city of
Durango, and the New Mexico towns of Aztec and Farmington
temporarily shut off their river intakes.
Utah was the third state affected by the spill.
Colorado has more than 4,000 abandoned mines, about 1,100 of
them around Silverton, according to American Rivers, which calls
those sites "ticking time bombs."